Kolkata, March 7 (MExN): The 19th Annual North-East Students’ Sports cum Cultural Meet (2017) of North-East Students’ Forum (NESF), West Bengal commenced on March 6 with Atul Bharali, NEPCO Coordinator, Kolkata gracing the opening ceremony. Bharali emphasized that it is events like this which brings people together, providing a platform to showcase their potentials and also promote a sense of brotherhood and unity amongst them, informed a press release from the Forum. The first day of the event flagged off with football and volleyball matches. The upcoming sport events include cricket and basketball, which will be played till March 11. The event will close with the Cultural Meet on March 15. The press release mentioned that the Naga Students’ Union Kolkata (NSUK) under the leadership of Khekhose Aye, the then President of NSUK initiated the process of bringing together the North-East students’ unions in Kolkata, which brought about the first ever North-East Students’ Forum Sports meet hosted by NSUK in the year 1999. However, the North-East Students’ Forum was established only in 2001 with 7 NE States as its members, namely Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam. “Since then it has now grown into an organization which concerns itself with not only organizing the Annual North East Sports Meet and Cultural Night but also effectively handling issues which affects the interest of the North-East people living in Kolkata and beyond,” the Forum stated. The North-East Students’ Forum, West Bengal Executive members are: General Secretary – Hirok Rabha; Assistant General Secretary – Zoa Lalrampui; Finance Secretary – Youngwa Chaupoo; Information and Publicity Secretaries – Aungdu Wakhet (Arunachal Pradesh), Wangdae (Arunachal Pradesh), Nungsangtoshi Aier (Nagaland), Jason Lepcha (Sikkim), Lalruatfela Ralte (Mizoram), Anamitra (Assam), Natheniel (Meghalaya).
